CAMPION, Henry (c.1586-c.1653), of Putney, Surr. and Newton Valence, Hants.

Campion was the grandson of a London Mercer. His uncle Henry became surveyor of Crown lands in Hampshire and acquired the manor of Newton Valence, which was then inherited by Campion’s father, who bought the manors of Old and New Lymington in 1609. Lansd. 171, f. 397v; C.P. Jones, Lymington, 48; VCH Hants, iii. 27; iv. 646. He died two years later, leaving Campion a house in Putney, which he made his principal residence, the Hampshire lands, and £3,000, while his seven younger brothers and sisters received some £1,000 each. PROB 11/117, f. 221. Campion’s efforts to pay these legacies and settle his father’s debts involved him in continuous litigation and completely swallowed up his own bequest. It was perhaps in order to gain a respite from his difficulties that he stood for Lymington in 1621. In a contest for the second seat he beat the salt patentee, John More II*, by ten votes to five. He left no trace on the parliamentary records.

In 1624 the corporation of London extended Campion’s lands for a deceased brother’s debt, further reducing him to poverty. PROB 11/141, f. 44v; C78/366/7. He was defeated in contests for both seats at Lymington in the 1624 general election, and stood again unsuccessfully in 1625. Hants RO, 27M74A/DBC 1, pp. 135, 137. It was not until 1632 that he was able to reach a settlement with the City authorities. A moderate parliamentarian, he sat for Lymington in the Long Parliament but abstained after Pride’s Purge. M.F. Keeler, Long Parl. 125-6. He had died intestate by 12 May 1653 when his heir, anticipating the grant of administration by nearly four weeks, sold his interest in the Lymington salterns. King, 243; PROB 6/30, f. 178. The rest of the Lymington property was sold off by 1665. The family retained Newton Valence until 1698, but no other member entered Parliament. VCH Hants, iii. 27.